The present invention relates generally to computer systems having portable (removable) components, and more particularly to computer systems incorporating anti-theft mechanisms on their portable components.
As computers, especially portable computers, are increasingly modularized, modular components such as portable hard disk drives, portable floppy drives, battery packs, and portable CD-ROM players are more commonly installed. For the user's convenience, these component modules are designed to be easily separable from and installable into the computer. Unfortunately, this makes them easy to steal. Such theft represents a significant financial loss, but more important is the fact that some of these components, for example, a portable hard disk drive, contain proprietary or confidential information. Corporate secrets thus could be accessed by competitors once the portable hard disk drive is stolen.
FIG. 3 shows a prior art anti-theft mechanism in a portable (notebook) computer. The computer is shown without its hinged upper portion containing the display. A portable hard disk module H is mounted in a housing F, shown disassembled with the keyboard removed. To prevent the portable hard disk H from being easily stolen, an h-shaped device L can be inserted into a slot S. Slot S is designed specifically on the side of portable hard disk H for allowing insertion of the h-shaped device L so that the h-shaped device sits on the edge of the side. Button B can be pressed to release a latch which is used to lock portable hard disk H. When h-shaped device L is inserted, its horizontally protruding portion T prohibits any movement of the latch so that hard disk H is secured in computer housing F and can not be drawn out of the computer system body.
While the above-described prior art mechanism prevents portable modules from being easily stolen, the setup procedure is so tedious that few users would bother to activate this function. First, access to allow insertion of the h-shaped devices requires disassembly of the lower portion of the computer, typically requiring the removal of a number of screws. After this disassembly, the user has to precisely insert the h-shaped device into the expected position to lock the latch. The disassembling and assembling are not simple processes and require special mechanical proficiency. As a result, users have trouble setting up the anti-theft mechanism and can damage the computer system. Furthermore, the h-shaped device has to be particularly stored in some place when the anti-theft function is not to be activated. Because of the size of the h-shaped device, it is very possible that the h-shaped device can not be found or reached when a user desires to use the anti-theft function.